The government-run Nuclear Station Authority (NSA) began talks on Wednesday with international consultancy WorleyParsons to follow up on discussions about future work on Egypt's first nuclear power station, currently awaiting a presidential decree that will determine its location.

“Talks focused on the consultancy's plans for the project and bids for the station, to inform officials about the nuclear technology now available, and to choose what is suitable for us so we can establish criteria for the tender," said a source at the Energy Ministry.

The source went on to reveal that the NSA had already sent documents about the proposed site to the Nuclear Safety Organization to assess earlier studies conducted by WorleyParsons and a governmental committee formed by the Energy Ministry, with a view to granting the site a license to construct the station. The source refused, however, to reveal the name of the site mentioned in the document.

"It isn't important to mention the name of the suggested site, since the NSA only grants licenses to sites  and isn't concerned with names," the source added. "When the traffic authority licenses a car, it doesn't ask for the car's brand name.”

He went on to reveal that French, Korean, American, German and Russian companies were currently awaiting the information in hopes of winning the bid.